February 15, 2013
Beth Hagenauer
Dryden Flight Research Center
661-276-7960
beth.hagenauer@nasa.gov
Nicholas A. Veronico
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-4589
nveronico@sofia.usra.edu
J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 13-05
EDUCATOR TEAMS FLY ON NASA’S SOFIA AIRBORNE OBSERVATORY
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is
shown with its telescope door partly open during a test flight for
its astronomical observation mission. (NASA / Jim Ross) › View
Larger Image
PALMDALE, Calif. – The first four Airborne Astronomy Ambassador (AAA)
educators returned safely to Earth at Palmdale, Calif., early in the
morning of Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, after completing their initial
flight on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or
SOFIA.
That flight launched the AAA program’s first full year of operations,
during which 26 educators from classrooms and science centers across
the United States will fly on the SOFIA as partners with scientists
conducting astronomy research using the airborne observatory.
On board for the Feb. 12-13 flight were ambassadors Constance Gartner
of the Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan, Wisc.; Chelen
Johnson from the Breck School in Golden Valley, Minn.; Ira Harden and
Vincente Washington, both from City Honors College Preparatory
Charter School in Inglewood, Calif. The astronomers on the flight
included Juergen Wolf and Doerte Mehlert of the German SOFIA
Institute in Stuttgart, Germany and Ted Dunham of the Lowell
Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (from left) Constance Gartner, Vince
Washington, Ira Hardin and Chelen Johnson at the educators’ work
station aboard the SOFIA observatory during a flight on the night of
Feb. 12-13, 2013. (NASA / SETI Institute / Pam Harman) › View
Larger Image The SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner that
carries a telescope with an effective diameter of 100 inches (2.5
meters) to altitudes as high as 45,000 feet (14 km). Flying above
Earth’s obscuring atmospheric water vapor, scientists can gather and
analyze infrared light to further our understanding of puzzles such
as the processes that form stars and planets, the chemistry of
organic compounds in interstellar clouds, and the environment around
the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
“SOFIA enables educators to work with scientists and to experience a
flight mission on the world’s largest airborne observatory. Educators
then take their experiences back to their classrooms and
communities,” said Eddie Zavala, NASA's SOFIA program manager. “They
can relate the excitement, hardships, challenges, discoveries,
teamwork and educational values of SOFIA and scientific research to
students, teachers and the general public.”
The Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program is a yearly professional
development opportunity extended to educators through a competitive,
peer-reviewed process. Teams of two educators are paired with groups
of professional astronomers who have won a parallel competitive
process to use the flying telescope for their research projects. Each
educator team will fly on two 10-hour missions that depart from and
return to NASA’s Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale,
Calif.
"These educators submitted applications describing how they will use
what they learn from SOFIA to help promote increased public literacy
in science, technology, engineering and math," said astronomer Dana
Backman, manager of the SOFIA's education and public outreach
programs. "Published studies have shown that personally participating
in scientific research increases the educators’ enthusiasm for
teaching, and measurably improves their career retention rates. The
same studies have shown that this enthusiasm carries over to the
students with tangible increases in test scores and science fair
participation.”
The current cohort of educator teams will continue flying through the
summer of 2013. Information for educators wishing to apply for AAA
flights in 2014 will be available starting March 1, 2013, at:

http://www.seti.org/sofia

SOFIA is a partnership of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (Edwards, Calif.) manages the
SOFIA program. NASA's Ames Research Center (Moffett Field, Calif.)
manages SOFIA’s science mission in cooperation with the Universities
Space Research Association (USRA; Columbia, Md.) and the German SOFIA
Institute (DSI; Stuttgart). SOFIA is based at NASA’s Dryden Aircraft
Operations Facility (DAOF) in Palmdale, Calif. SOFIA's education and
public outreach programs are managed by a partnership of the SETI
Institute in Mountain View, Calif. and the Astronomical Society of
the Pacific in San Francisco, Calif.
For more information about SOFIA, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/sofia and
http://www.dlr.de/en/sofia

For information about SOFIA's science mission, visit:

http://www.sofia.usra.edu and
http://www.dsi.uni-stuttgart.de/index.en.html